LONDON LETTER: IN THE Middle Ages, a lengthsman had the job of walking the tracks of a parish, ensuring that drains and ditches were kept clear. In time, the role was lost, but numerous English county councils are now bringing it back.
The latest to do so is Nottinghamshire county council, which has established a pilot in six clusters, covering between four and six parishes each. Running between June and April next year, the programme could be extended to 40 more areas, if it works.
“It’s how the county council delivered such services in the past, so it’s not a new idea – more about trying to adapt it to modern circumstances,” says Cllr Martin Suthers, deputy leader of the county council.
“It will ensure that local concerns are acted upon quickly, nipping minor problems in the bud before they become significant and costly issues, and with a quick response time for urgent local matters,” he says.
In centuries past, local people looked after the roads or tracks in their parish, until an act of parliament in 1862 created highways boards, while another in 1888 created county councils to handle the work.
In the 1960s, the last of the lengthsmen passed away, replaced by centrally delivered local government services, losing much of the local knowledge that had prevented damage happening in the first place rather than having to repair it afterwards.
In 2002, they made a comeback in Worcestershire, after five parish councils in the county were given a role and a budget to handle minor local issues.
Deemed a resounding success, lengthsmen now serve nine out of 10 parishes there. In Coleford in Somerset, the local lengthsman, Chris Perkins, besides keeping drains clear, has repainted changing rooms at the village’s playing grounds, removed graffiti, and fixed up donated bench seats that now offer rest to villagers.
In Lancashire, the plaudits for the lengthsman, paid £12 an hour, are frequent, with the parish clerk of Myerscough, Roy Bassnett, declaring: “Please tell whoever needs to know these things, that [the scheme] has been a resounding success.”
His colleague in Penwortham’s town council, Steve Caswell, is equally laudatory: “Penwortham is now a much cleaner, tidier town. The rapid response that [he] gives us has helped to stamp out problems before they can be allowed to take root.”
The recent spate of local flooding in southern England has highlighted the importance of a stitch in time, as it were, with one parish clerk saying that they are “constantly chiding their masters” about ditch-clearing and weed-cutting.
“Though these factors may not have an influence on the full measure of these floods, there can be no doubt that regular basic maintenance has a part to play.
“Local authorities are ever ready to issue glossy brochures. [But] they are slow to send men regularly, with tools, to do what needs to be done, particularly in the countryside, where so often the inhabitants are at the very end of the queue for resources,” he said.
While the scheme is making progress in some areas it is being affected by spending cutbacks elsewhere, as the parish notes from a meeting of the South Petherton parish group in Somerset last month shows.
Up to now, the costs of its lengthsman has been shared between Somerset county council, South Somerset district councils and the parish council, which raises local taxation annually through a precept paid by all homes.
Funding, however, from the county council and the district council has been cut to zero, leaving the full bill to be met by the locals.
“In a rural area the build-up of debris and soil can quickly lead to drainage problems. Maintaining clean pathways, litter-free open space and clearing back overgrowth all affect local resident satisfaction.”
Extolling the value of the job, the minutes go on: “One particular advantage of a parish lengthsman is the ability to develop and use local knowledge, and act rapidly to address small problems from becoming worse.
“One example is the need to keep roadside grips clear, to help minimise the risk of flooding,” according to the minutes.
“On average, the lengthsman collects two fly-tips and carries out six hours’ litter picking per week.”
Faced with the cutbacks, the parish group has raised the precept charge to meet £15,000 of the £22,000 bill for the coming year, but it is pleading for outside help: “At around £90 per day, [it] is considered good value, providing up to 220 days per year of service.”
Urging South Somerset district council to reverse its funding cut, South Petherton said: “It is apparent that should the scheme fail or be reduced, there would be additional costs to (the district council) – based on the records for fly-tips and litter-picking.”
In Bridport in Dorset, the lengthsman has become so popular over the last two years that his services are hired out to surrounding parishes, though here, too, there are fears that he will disappear, just as the job will be reintroduced elsewhere.
